Road Trip to Canton, OH

Hey all, this is my first trip report  and I did not get pictures (was not sure I was going to do this, but decided to get my nerve up! LOL), but we will do that next time.  We took a short trip home to my hometown, Canton, Oh, "Home of the Pro Football  Hall of Fame".
 
Here are some of my favorite places we visited:
 
 Wednesday, 10/16 – Arrived in time for dinner, so we went to Papa Bears Pizza Oven.  The Pizza Oven has been in Canton since the 50's and is family owned.  They finally opened a sit down restaurant.  They offer a pretty large menu, but my favorites are the pizza and broasted chicken and jojo's.  The pizza is rectangular and the small has 8 pieces, they put all the toppings under the cheese so if you like your pepperoni a little crispy, order the "pepperoni on top" of the cheese!  Dad had the sausage and peppers platter with side of angle hair spaghetti;  husband and I had pizza and chicken.
 http://www.pizzaovenpapab...ngview&listingID=3
 
  Thursday, 10/17 - Lunch was at Ben Heggy's Candy Shop.  This is a candy and nut shop that has a lunch counter serving coneys, hamburgs, etc and ice cream such as banna splits and milk shakes.  This is a locally owned shop and has been in Canton for a very long time.  We had coney dogs and french fries with a pat of butter melting on the top of them.  Bought a couple of pints of the coney sauce to take back to SC!
[color=#800080 font="verdana, helvetica, sans-serif"]http://www.heggys.com/
 
Dinner - The Sparta Steakhouse and Lounge.  This is a family owned restaurant and has open for business since the 40's or early 50's.  They have great steaks, and my fav, a double baked potato.  The house salad dressing is a very light Italian, very good.  They serve Norcia's Italian bread, which is a local bakery in Canton. 
[color=#800080 font="verdana, helvetica, sans-serif"]http://local.yahoo.com/in...ak-house-lounge-canton
 
Friday, 10/18 - Swenson's Drive -In.  The drive-in is just up the road from Canton, in North Canton, or they have one in Massillon, just west of Canton.  We had the Galley Boys and tater tots.  The Galley Boy is two hamburg patties and two special sauces (not sure what they are but they are good) with lettace and pickle, very good hamburg. 
 
Saturday, 10/18 - Grinders Above and Beyond.  This is a great place to get a grinder (subs) hot or cold.  I love the cheesey hash brown potatoes.  They have a full menu which includes appitizers, soups, sandwiches, wraps and dinners.  I had the aviator sub and husband had the philly cheese steak and we shared the has brown potatoes. 
[color=#800080 font="verdana, helvetica, sans-serif"]http://grinders.net/
 
Sunday, 10/19 - Breakfast/Lunch - Big Boy in Stow, OH.  Almost to Cleveland, it was worth the travel time to have a Big Boy!
[color=#800080 font="verdana, helvetica, sans-serif"]http://www.bigboy.com/
 
Dinner - Tim's Tavern, Famous for Fish.  No trip home would be complete without going to the local neighborhood tavern for fish and beer.  Husband had the three piece beer batter fish dinner with beer batter onion rings, coleslaw and hush puppies.  I had the jumbo fish sandwich and potato wedges.  They offer a rather large menu now which includes catfish, salmon, hamburgs, coneys, chicken, etc.  Great local place, we have been going there all my life.
[color=#800080 font="verdana, helvetica, sans-serif"]http://www.tripadvisor.co...avern-Canton_Ohio.html
 
Hope I gave some good places to eat if anyone visits Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, all the places I have mentioned with the exception of Big Boy's is within a couple of miles of the Hall of Fame. 
Thanks, Lisa
 

Nice report, well done, keep them coming, and a belated WELCOME!

Nice report, and welcome to Roadfood.  All the food sounds really good.

Is this what you mean by jojos?

http://www.oregoncoasttoday.com/jojos.html

Lee's Famous Recipe does these, but simply calls them potato wedges

Enjoyed your report.  We ate at The Sparta Steakhouse and Lounge nearly 20 years ago and my son still remembers it!

Thanks for the comments!  Yes, TJJackson, that is what teh jojo's look like!

Welcome Lisa, and bravo on your first trip report.  You know there's a Lee's Famous Recipe in Rock Hill--don't know about one in the Upstate.

Thanks Nancypalooza, there is a Lee's Famous Recipe in Spartanburg, we went there a couple of years ago. 

Lisajo


Thanks Nancypalooza, there is a Lee's Famous Recipe in Spartanburg, we went there a couple of years ago. 

Shoot, you were just down the street from me when you ate at Bob's Big Boy. I've been going there quite a bit lately because they have specials on the big boy now.

Lee's Famous Recipe is also in New Philadelphia off of Rt. 250 and in Sandusky on Rt.250. We used to have a Famous Recipe franchise here in Cuyahoga Falls back in the 70's . Really good honey dipped chicken and the best fish sandwiches around.

Mountain Traveler

I did not know that Lee's Famous Recipe was in Ohio, I thought they were just down south.  I wish I could have another Big Boy, you will have to have one for me!  The closest one to me now is in Cherokee, NC which is 90 miles from my house and the husband is not real jazzed about driving up there for just a Big Boy. 

There are lee's famous recipe locations throughout cincinnati and northern kentucky, tho a few older locations have closed in the past few years

Great first report. I was in Canton five years ago to visit the First Ladies Museum and Mckinley home and ate at a marvelous restaurant in downtown Canton that served very good turtle soup and home brewed root beer. It claimed to be the oldest restaurant in Canton. Damned if I can remember the name.

Mr Chips,

I believe the restaurant of which you speak would be Bender's Tavern. A great Ohio institution. A perfect evening would Be Bender's for dinner, follwed by deser at Taggart's Ice Cream Shoppe.

CCJPO,

You are right that would be a great evening! Sounds like you are very familiar with Canton! 

Lisajo-
Thanks for the very nice report.  I'm already a big fan of Swenson's (love those Galley boys!).  Canton isn't that far for me and the next time I am in the area, it will definitely be Sparta Steakhouse and Ben Heggy's Candy Shop.

Buffetbuster

Thanks, I really enjoy all the roadfood trip reports.  Next time I will take pics!  You can't go wrong at the Sparta and Heggy's. 

CCJPO


Mr Chips,

I believe the restaurant of which you speak would be Bender's Tavern. A great Ohio institution. A perfect evening would Be Bender's for dinner, follwed by deser at Taggart's Ice Cream Shoppe.

         Thanks for providing the answer.